Easter at Gran's

Easter Sunday has become one of my favorite days of the year. Sometimes, driving to church is less than picture perfect. Frustration over rushing the kids out the door, cries of anger between siblings, breakfast & makeup in the car can add up to a stressful journey. But not on Easter Sunday. As we drive to church on Easter, I am confident in our purpose. And the stresses of the morning seem to pale in comparison to what we are about to experience. Our Lord is risen! What a wonderful reason to celebrate, and what wonderful people surround us and join in the celebration. Truly, this is what our faith is all about. This is why we endure such mornings. To sing alongside my family for our Lord who has conquered the grave - what greater pleasure do we have as a family?
It's become our tradition to spend Easter Sunday at Gran's (Ryan's mom) after church. There's always a wonderful home-cooked meal, some egg hunting (of course), and some nap taking. Funny - that's exactly what we do at my grandparents' house the day before Easter. Maybe next year we'll get really creative and do something different. (Probably not due to our "do it once, do it always" mentality.) Uncle Brad spent some time reading to the kids, and Uncle Ross got teary over how well Anna read a book to him. She really does seem grown up when she's reading aloud. We get that "We're so proud" mixed with "We're bummed she's big enough to be doing this" feeling that we seem to get at least once a day now. PawPaw (Ryan's dad) and Ryan enjoyed some March Madness, and the kids & Gran played Monopoly for the first time. We don't typically color coordinate, but we were all in yellow for the occasion. Caroline wore a super sweet bunny dress courtesy of Emily Helphinstine. Anna and Luke got some yellow to match. What a great day, complete with a great photo of all three kids. To get them to sit out in the 40 degree weather right before bedtime and smile their best fake smiles only took a sugary bribe. Thanks for the treats Gran!